Good Intentions
by Athena Blackquill
Summary: Yu Narukami convinced his parents to allow him to return to Yasogami High School, much to the excitement of the many friends with which he forged such special bonds during his stay last year. However, trouble brews, as familiar and unfamiliar enemies emerge from the fog. Is the culprit out for retribution or salvation? Either way, the road ahead is dangerous.
1. Chapter 1

APRIL 9, 2012

"Ow ow ow owww!" Yosuke Hanamura crashed into a lamp post, his scooter making an ominous crunching sound, paired with the sound of his front headline getting smashed to bits. "Dammit, I just got this repaired!" he lamented, climbing off the scooter and sighing deeply. Yosuke slowly reached down for his scooter and rolled it alongside him as a few girls passed him, giggling. "Great..."

"Are you okay?" a voice behind him asked.

Yosuke nearly jumped out of his skin. He whipped his head around. "...Yu?! What are you doing here, bro?" Immediately, Yosuke dropped his scooter to the ground and ran toward his friend, throwing an arm around him. Yosuke had last seen Yu Narukami at the train station when Yu returned home after a surprise visit to Inaba after the school year had ended. He had cried not a little bit as the train pulled out of the station, but made sure that the girls hadn't seen. The two had not seen each other since, but had kept in contact via text messages and a chat room they'd set up for their group, who they nicknamed The Investigation Squad, though their investigation had long since been over.

"Djoima, Nanako, and I convinced my parents to let me stay another year," Yu responded, smiling. "Dojima and I thought it would be funny to surprise everyone. It was hard, with Nanako and Teddie being so close, though." The tall gray-haired boy was, like Yosuke and a few of their friends, entering his third year at Yasogami High School.

"Bro, that's not fair. We could have hung out all summer!" Yosuke pouted, but Yu only laughed.

"Nah. I only got in this past weekend."

"Yu?!" a girl screamed from behind them. Yu turned to see Rise Kujikawa running toward him, followed by Kanji Tatsumi and Naoto Shirogane.

"No way man! Awesome!" the biker exclaimed, whose hair had thankfully been bleached back to the color it was when Yu met him. Kanji was seen as the town hoodlum, so it was likely odd for Yu to seem excited to see Kanji running toward him. Yu, however, knew that Kanji had a soft heart underneath that loud, angry exterior. He had the rabbit phone charm to prove it.

"Hey guys," Yu responded, happily being tackled by the three of them, though it surprised him Naoto was being so affectionate. The "Detective Prince," as they called her, was usually much more reserved. Yu was glad to see her come out of her shell these past few months, relaxing her clothing choices and even wearing some jewelry Kanji had made for her. Yu explained the situation to the three of them as Yosuke called Chie and excitedly told her (and presumably Yukiko) the news.

"Bro, we gotta get to the front gates soon. Teddie, Marie, Chie, and Yukiko are all there and super excited you're here!" Yosuke began tugging on Yu's arm, and the group followed. Teddie had come from the TV world

Yu stopped for a moment. "Wait, Marie? I thought she was a weather forecaster now." As they passed Yosuke's scooter, he added, "What are you going to do with your bike?"

Yosuke shrugged. "I'll leave it. No one's going to take that piece of junk anyway."

"Mariko Kusumi, or Marie as we know her, is a second year at Yasogami, like Kanji, Rise, Teddie, and me. She still forecasts, of course, but she wanted to learn about the world as well."

"And before you ask, Teddie is _not _allowed to wear his stupid costume to school." Yosuke frowned. "I keep trying to get him to throw that damn thing away since we don't really go into the TV World anymore, except for like, picnics or whatever."Yu chuckled, but Yosuke shrugged. "Teddie likes to have tea with the girls or whatever." Teddie had been an inhabitant of the TV World until shadows had infested it and people were thrown into it and killed. Together with the Investigation Squad, he'd been able to transform his world back into the paradise it had been, but had chosen to remain with his friends in the "Outside World" instead. It was in this manner that he basically became Yosuke's cheerfully naïve adopted brother. Yosuke was still unsure as to why his dad had never asked questions about it.

It began to sprinkle. "Aw man, why didn't Marie tell us she was going to do this?" Yosuke complained, pulling his third year jacket over his head. "There they are. Oy, Marie!"

Marie was wearing a long white moto jacket with a hood that reminded Yu of Kusumi-no-Okami, Marie's true identity. He found himself shivering despite himself. Marie, like Teddie, had chosen to live in this world as Mariko Kusumi, inhabiting it as a human in order to make her own memories. Because she could control the weather, she had chosen to be a weather forecaster, though she also had to force herself to be wrong sometimes in order to not arouse too much suspicion. Because of her curiosity with regard to this world, she had also enrolled in Yasogami and received much tutoring from Yukiko and Naoto, though they had found Marie to be a quick study.

"Marie, why didn't you tell us it was going to rain?" Yosuke complained at her while everyone swarmed Yu. Yu couldn't hear her response over everyone else's excitement, which of course drew others, like Ai Ebihara and her boyfriend Kou Ichijo, to stop by and say hello. Everyone seemed rather pleased about Yu's return, even those who did not know him all that well. Those who did know him well, however, had stood by him during his darkest hours, whether they had understood what was going on or not. It was the people here, at Yasogami, who had helped him survive, and helped his team save the world.

Yu eventually made his way to Marie and gave her a quick hug, as she was still a bit uncomfortable with physical contact. Marie was alternating between looking pleased to see Yu and giving Yosuke a worried look. Yosuke just looked confused. "What's up?" he asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"It's raining," she said.

"That happens sometimes," Yu responded, smiling.

Marie shook her head. "You don't understand. It doesn't rain. Not unless I say so." Before Yu could ask any questions or add any comments, she sighed. "This has never happened since I realized I could do it."

"Well, let's get inside. I think the bell is going to ring. We can talk about it over lunch." Marie nodded as Yu directed her toward the front door.

They made their way toward the door and were about to cross the threshold into the school when Yu heard a familiar, quiet yet crazed laugh to his right. He quickly glanced in that direction and sucked in his breath. A tall figure, slightly shorter than Yu himself, stood near the door, leaning against the building. Yu couldn't quite make out his face under the hood of the yellow raincoat, but... could it be?

"Hey-" Yu yelled out, reaching for the man, but he lifted his head and laughed.

"Goodbye, you stupid kids."

That was when their worlds went black.


	2. Chapter 2

"Where... are we?" Chie rubbed her eyes as she sat up. Everyone was crumpled on a hill overlooking a large outdoor theater, shaded by the many trees in the area. The theater appeared to have a capacity of about 6000 people, but currently no one was in the crowd or on the stage. The trees lining the hill the theater area gave the area some pleasant shade, and large buildings could be seen in the distance. The sun hung high in the sky, suggesting it was mid-afternoon. In the distance, the group could hear the sounds of cars and trains. Perhaps they were near the city.

"Sniff sniff, sniff sniff... I don't know," Teddie responded despondently. "My nose doesn't seem to be working, and it doesn't seem like we've been here before either."

Rise stood and stretched, wincing as her back popped. "Wait, this place looks familiar... I think I played a concert here once, when I first started performing overseas." She twisted around several times, popping her back a few more times. Back to her bouncy self, she said, "Phew... We landed kind of rough there."

"Over... seas?" Yukiko was looking around nervously. She looked to Yu. "What do we do, Narukami?" She wasn't pleased when Yu had no answer. Her hair was a mess, so she went to trying to detangle it, but wasn't nearly as invested in that as she was with taking in her surroundings.

"Wait... let me see... This must be... Los Angeles?" Rise walked toward the theater and examined the area as best she could. "I've done so many concerts... but this looks like the Greek Theatre. It was one of my first concerts in the U.S." Rise doubled over. "I don't... feel so good after all..." Yukiko rose to help her.

"Los Angeles? Shit." Kanji was helping Naoto up, helping her dust off her jacket. "How the hell are we going to get back?"

Naoto clung onto Kanji as she rotated her ankles, wincing. "Perhaps we should ask for directions. Who has the best English among us?" No one said anything. Naoto sighed. "I suppose it would probably be either Rise or me." Out of the group, they were the only two who had been overseas.

Chie was nursing her knee. "I think I landed on this pretty bad, you guys..."

Yosuke rushed over. "Do you need me to do anything?" He placed his hand on her knee and quickly drew it away, as if remembering something. "I... just mean... I can help you walk if you need help, Chie."

Chie stared at the ground. "Thanks, Yosuke..."

Marie stood, dusting herself off. She then helped Yu up, who said, "I think Naoto's plan is sound. We should find a way out of this park area and to a main street." He nodded at Rise, who straightened herself and nodded back, then giving Yukiko a quick hug from the side.

The group made their way down the hill, through the audience seating, and toward the exit of the theater. A guard gave them an incredibly suspicious look as they walked out.

"I'm sorry," Naoto began. "We appear to be lost."

"I don't know how you got in there," the guard huffed, "but if you tell me where you need to go, I can give you directions." Noticing Chie, who was leaning on Yosuke, he added, "You need a hospital, kid? You fall or something? That knee looks pretty busted up."

"Um..." several voiced, and Chie shook her head, adjusting herself awkwardly so she wouldn't lean too much on Yosuke.

"I saw some foreign kids like you get on a bus to Santa Monica Pier. You're about a half hour behind them, and it's a two-hour ride so long as there isn't a Sigalert, but maybe they're part of your... ah... group."

Naoto looked at Yu, who nodded. "Yes, perhaps they were a part of our class," she lied. "Which is the quickest way to transport to that area?"

"Say, your English ain't that bad for a foreigner, kid. Walk down this road to Commonwealth Canyon Drive, then wait for the DASH. It'll take you to Vermont/Sunset, and you can take the 204. People at that stop can help you from there."

Naoto bowed her head. "Thank you, sir."

The group waved to the guard, who was talking into a radio and waving back, as they made their way to Commonwealth Canyon Drive and waited for the DASH. Soon enough, the bus bearing the "LADOT" logo stopped at the intersection. No one had any fare, but the bus driver was feeling generous that day and could tell the students were nervous and "not from around here," so he dropped $4.50 so the group could ride. Everyone thanked him as they went to find seats in the back, and for the next fifteen minutes, they tried not to panic.

"What do we do, sensei?" Teddie turned around in his seat and gave Yu a worried look.

"I don't know," Yu responded, looking at his knees. "Maybe at Santa Monica we can find a phone, as it doesn't look like ours are working." He flipped his open, then shut again. The phone didn't turn on. Others did the same, with similar results.

"Are you sure this is going to work, bro?" Yosuke scratched the back of his head. "I guess we don't really have a choice, do we?" He looked out the window and shrugged. "At least the view is pretty cool. I've never been outside Japan."

"I'm glad someone finds this exciting," Chie murmured, massaging her knee.

"This is your stop, kids!" the driver called from the front, and the group filed out. This time, Chie asked Marie for help walking. They all waved as the bus driver continued his journey. As they made their way to the next bus stop, a large black limo pulled up beside them and stopped. Slowly, the window rolled down.

"Margaret," Marie said, without emotion.

"Please, join us," Margaret said, smiling at Yu, and rolled the window back up.

"Is that the fortune teller lady from last year's festival?" Yukiko asked.

"It's Margaret," Marie and Teddie responded simultaneously, opening the limo door and crawling inside.

"How do you guys know her?" Yosuke asked, but followed them inside like everyone else.

Somehow the limo had enough room for all of them to sit comfortably, though most of them hardly looked comfortable with the situation they were in. A familiar piano tune lightly played in the background, and Igor sighed heavily. "Welcome... to the Velvet Room. Previously, only a few of you had ever been in here. However, it turns out that we are in quite a situation, and while we cannot directly intervene, Margaret and I felt that we should at least help you as much as we could."

Margaret reached to Chie and handed her a bottle. "Please, rub this ointment onto your knee. It should look familiar." Indeed, it did look like something from their dungeon crawling days. Addressing the group as a whole, she added, "It appears that someone is altering reality. You will find that you no longer have access to the TV World-"

"Shit we could have tried that?" Kanji lamented. "I didn't even think of that."

"-or to your Personas." Margaret closed her eyes and placed her hands on the compendium. "Currently, no Personas are listed, as if they did not exist."

A murmur spread around the group. "What idiot is doing this?" Marie asked angrily. "I wanted to start school. I wanted to live normally."

Margaret averted her eyes. "We are unsure as of yet..."

"But you have an idea," Naoto asserted. She was never slow to pick up on body language.

"I think I saw Adachi before we were transported," Yu admitted, and everyone turned toward him. "I don't know for sure, but I thought I heard him laugh."

"Impossible," Naoto responded, and Kanji put a hand on her shoulder. "He's still in prison."

"Yes," Igor said, nodding slowly, his nose still resting on his hands. He and Margaret exchanged a concerned look. "Adachi has been released. We have no reason to believe he is the one behind all of this. It is possible he is working with the culprit, however."

"Why?" Naoto asked.

"In time, my dear. We cannot lead you astray with our suspicions. You will be responsible for finding out the truth."

"Cut the shit, old man," Kanji began, but Margaret interrupted.

"We have acquired living arrangements for you in what are known as Villa Royale Penthouses," she said, smiling. "Three people per apartment, as there are three bedrooms. I am incredibly jealous that you will have these to yourself, so be sure to get up to trouble while you're there." She laughed gently as she handed a bag full of keys to Yu. "Be sure to choose your living arrangements carefully, as they may affect your search for truth." The group felt the limo come to a stop. "Yu, you still own the contractor's key and may use it at any time, including in your apartments."

As people climbed out of the car, Igor held up a hand. "Teddie, Marie. You must be especially careful." The two nodded and climbed out of the car, sharing worried looks.

"What do you think he meant?" Marie asked, but Teddie only shrugged and groaned quietly.

"Whoa," Kanji said breathlessly as the group looked at the villas. Each one had to be worth millions of dollars, and they were going to have three of them to themselves. "Dude." Naoto stood next to him, just as in awe as the rest of the group.

"Sweet!" Yosuke exclaimed, jumping into the air. "This is so cool!... Other than the whole being lost thing," he added quickly, looking at Yukiko and Chie.

"We better head over to our section," Yu said, turning one set of keys over in his hand. "I have a feeling we have a lot to talk about."


	3. Chapter 3

"Dude, these places are huge," Kanji commented after Yu managed to find the right key for one of the penthouses. "I have no freaking clue how they got a hold of these."

The penthouses were indeed large. The first floor held a large, fully-furnished gourmet kitchen with a double oven. It also featured a dining area, a bathroom, a bedroom with a walk in closet, and another closet in the the hallway. The dining area featured a large table that could easily seat ten people, and the dining room held two love seats, a recliner, a couch, a fireplace, and a large flat-screen television. The bedroom held a king-sized bed and a large vanity, as well as another large flat-screen television. The bathroom had a walk in shower and everything else a bathroom could possibly need. The second floor held two bedrooms similar to the one downstairs, each with their own bathrooms, also similar to the one downstairs. The remaining floorspace opened up to a balcony with a patio and hot tub. The retractable roof was also a plus.

"I know we're supposed to be pissed off that we're here and all, but..." Yosuke started and trailed off. Several other members nodded. The apartments were the nicest they had ever seen, or even thought about. There was no way they would have been able to afford this, even if they'd all had jobs. Yosuke didn't even want to think about what it would cost to rent.

"Well, senpai, we should sit and talk plans," Rise said finally, after everyone had the chance to explore the apartment.

Yu nodded. "I'm not sure I know where to begin, but we should talk." Everyone assembled around the dining room table while Naoto made coffee. When she finished and had handed coffee out to those who wanted it, she joined them. "So... I think Margaret and Igor won't talk to us much unless they need to. That's how they were last year, anyway."

Teddie and Marie nodded, but Yosuke asked, "Who the hell _are_ they anyway? I just remember Nanako and Ai seeing them at the festival last year."

"I... don't really know," Yu responded after a moment. "I just know they helped me manage my Personas, and sometimes they'd give me advice."

"And of course you never questioned it," Yosuke said, frowning.

"I think what's more important is we figure out what's going on," Naoto interjected, adjusting her hat. "I am, of course, also interested in these two, especially since they seem to know more about what's going on than they are willing to let on. At this time, however, we should make a game plan, so to speak." She sipped on her coffee.

"Yeah, we can't just sit on our asses," Kanji agreed. A few of the others nodded.

"For the moment, then, I guess we should wait it out. See if there's a way to contact my uncle and our families, and maybe watch the news for anything out of the ordinary. We can't be the only things that have popped up that shouldn't be here."

Rise was still blowing on her coffee. "Okay, then who is gonna live where?" Rise asked. "Senpai," she added in a singsong voice, "do you need any help deciding?"

"I... want to be with Yukiko," Chie said, and Naoto added she felt more comfortable rooming with women. Yukiko nodded and said that was fine with her.

"I guess that's a set," Yu said, handing them three identical keys.

"Well, I think I should be with Yu, then!" Yosuke said.

Marie shrugged, sipping her coffee. "I don't care who I room with." She took another quick sip and set the mug down on the table, smiling at Naoto to let her know the coffee was good. Naoto blushed and hid under her hat.

Teddie poked her. "Could we room together then...?" Marie blushed slightly, but then nodded. "I want to talk to you," he whispered.

"Well I wanna be with senpai too!" Kanji said assertively, so Yu handed him and Yosuke keys.

"Aw, no one wants to room with me?" Rise pouted as Yu handed her, Teddie, and Marie the remaining keys.

"I would be willing to trade you my key," Naoto said, holding hers out. Rise shook her head.

"It's fine. Teddie, Marie and I can just cuddle together then!" She stuck her tongue out at Yu, who looked nonplussed.

"On second thought," Yosuke mused, but Kanji punched him on the arm as softly as he could. Yosuke was still left rubbing his sore arm, frowning.

"Down boy."

The groups broke off to go to their respective apartments, with Yu, Kanji, and Yosuke staying in the current apartment.

"I can take the downstairs bedroom," Kanji offered.

Yosuke shrugged. "That's fine, bro. Works for me!" Yu nodded in agreement.

They headed to their bedrooms. Kanji fumbled around with some of the bathroom items, organizing them to his liking.

"Man, this sucks," he mumbled to himself as he flopped onto his bed, face first. Today he was sure he'd have the courage to finally ask Naoto out, and then _happens. Granted, this was probably the least of his concerns right now, but asking girls out was hard, especially when they got as flustered as Kanji got around girls he liked. As he heard that Americans would joke, Naoto's middle name could be Flustered, for all he knew. Now he wouldn't be able to ask her out for a while, because of this timing crap. He just wanted to tell her how he felt. He didn't even care if she felt the same way... he just wanted her to know she was important to him._

Upstairs, Yosuke rummaged through the closet. "Yo, come check this out." As Yu entered the room, he pulled out an orange t-shirt with a swordsman on it. "How freaky is this crap? It's like they knew which rooms we'd pick and everything?"

"That was considerate of them," Yu commented and went into his room to check for clothing for him.

Yosuke threw his hands in the air. "No, bro, you're not understanding! These people are freaky!" _ he thought to himself as he went through the rest of the clothes._

"This apartment is awesome," Yukiko commented as she walked through the kitchen.

Naoto nodded as she inspected the windows, which appeared the have automatic shades. "Indeed. A place like this would be incredibly expensive to live in. I wonder how those two were able to procure one of them, let alone three."

"I find it best to not ask questions about that kind of stuff," Chie commented, while rummaging through the fridge. "Yukiko, there's tofu _meat in here! It's like they knew we were gonna be here!" She smiled, pulling a package of tofu out and showing it to her friend._

"Oh, well, that was thoughtful at least!" Yukiko didn't mind eating meat, but she much preferred dishes with tofu in them. Her best friend however, was the exact opposite: she liked tofu, but a good meaty dish was heaven to her. "Chie..."

"Yeah?"

Yukiko wasn't quite sure how to ask the question. "I saw Yosuke was around you a lot. Are you guys okay?"

"Ugh, yeah," Chie replied, peeling a banana open and taking a bite of it. "I just... I think he's still not over me dating Ichijo, you know? It's really awkward."

"How long have you two been dating?" Naoto asked, also reaching for a banana. She knew she should know that, but for the life of her she couldn't remember.

"Almost three months," Chie responded matter-of-factly. "He asked me out a few weeks into January. We've said 'I love you' and everything. It's going pretty smoothly... or it was." Chie realized she wouldn't be seeing Kou for a while. "How am I supposed to get into contact with him, you guys?" she asked in a panicked tone.

"Don't worry," Naoto responded, putting a hand on her friend's arm and smiling reassuringly. "We'll figure something else. It's important to be able to talk to the ones you love."

Chie smiled devilishly. "Speaking of talking to the ones you love, Naoto..."

Naoto turned a bright shade of red. "W-we should look at our bedrooms! I'll take the downstairs one!" With that, she quickly left the kitchen area.

"I want the downstairs bedroom!" Rise called.

Marie pouted. "I wanted the downstairs one..." She looked up, as if she were thinking. "No, that's fine. I can take upstairs."

"Yay!" Rise ran into her new room and began singing.

Teddie was already upstairs on the patio outside, staring into the distance. Marie walked outside and stood beside him. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Why did they ask us to be especially careful, do you think?" He was worried.

"Maybe it's because the Personas disappeared," Marie thought. "I mean, I'm Kusumi-no-Okami, and you're from the TV World. Maybe they're afraid... we'll disappear too..."

Teddie turned to Marie. "Do you think we'll disappear...?"

Marie shook her head. "Something's up. I know Margaret and Igor better than any of you, even Yu. There's no way that's it. Otherwise I think Igor would have said something stupid that would have hinted that. I think they aren't sure what will happen to us, but we are different from the rest of the group."

"Maybe they're afraid whatever is affecting reality is going to affect us worse."

"Mm... Or maybe we'll be completely useless..." It _had_ rained in Inaba, against her will. What did that mean?

"Will you... stay with me?" Teddie asked, feeling vulnerable. "It's bad enough that I still don't know who I am, but to think I might change when I don't want to..."

Marie placed a hand on Teddie's shoulder. "I get it, as weird as that sounds. I'm still trying to figure out who Mariko, or I guess Marie, is." She tried to give him a smile, but quickly let it fade, turning her gaze to the same distance Teddie had been staring into. She let her hand drop. "I have a feeling we're all going to have to stick together, or else."


	4. Chapter 4

"Welcome to KTLA 5 News at 6. Hi, I'm Chris Schauble, and tonight we are going to talk about the pockets of confusion that have swept across the nation. Reports are flowing into police stations in various cities about unusual happenings that are disrupting the way of life for many residents. For instance, in New York City, it seems that some outlandish rumors are turning out to be true, even when they had previously not been. Police are finding it difficult to investigate such instances, especially when they involve much heavier subjects like murder. Here's Cher Calvin with an update."

A woman appeared on the screen, microphone in hand. "Hi Chris. Police in New York are finding their jobs to be much more difficult than usual. One instance I'm allowed to share is a case where a woman had stolen from a top vintage store in the area called What Goes Around Comes Around. Police are swearing up and down that the camera footage had originally shown the woman stealing a pair of shoes and blazer. Yet when rumors began circulating that it was a different woman who had stolen a pair of jeans and skirt, police went to review the footage again and found that the person they had in custody was no longer the person on the footage."

"Scary stuff," Chris commented.

There was a short pause as Cher waited for Chris's response to make it to her. "Indeed. Of course, this is relatively minor compared to some of the more challenging cases currently occurring in New York City..."

Yosuke yawned as Cher continued with the story. "That's totally weird, bro, but I don't know if that has anything to do with us." He was stretched out on the floor, can of Coke next to him.

Naoto nodded. "It may not be, considering it is New York they are talking about. However, the anchor said there are odd reports coming in from across the United States, so it may benefit us to listen to the rest of the broadcast."

"Yeah, yeah," Yosuke responded, burying his head into his arms. "Man, I hate the news."

"Thank you, Cher," Chris continued,. In Dallas, there have been reports of a new disease, though it's difficult to pinpoint a cause. This condition seems to affect teenagers most strongly, but has also been shown to crop up in adults and even young children. Here with me is Dr. Amir Shabat to help explain the situation. Dr. Shabat, what is going on, do you think?"

"Well it's very odd," the man in the doctor's coat responded.

"Oh, he's very cute!" Rise said, immediately shushed by Kanji, but Chie nodded in agreement. Teddie quietly made his way to the kitchen for another Coke, resuming his seat by Marie and Rise on his return.

"Basically, what we're seeing is intense and sudden depression-like symptoms. People affected by these symptoms find themselves unable to take care of themselves, to feed themselves for instance, and in more severe cases, they're even unable to eat or drink. All of these cases have required stay at medical hospitals, but we can't seem to find a cause. Those that can still talk, and this is very few of them, don't report doing anything unusual or eating anything unusual."

"What have doctors been doing about it so far?" Chris asked.

"Well, unfortunately there's not much we've been able to do other than monitor the patients."

"How many has Dallas seen so far?"

Dr. Shabat shook his head. "Close to one thousand new patients within the past week and a half," he responded grimly. "These patients show up in a vegetative state, and their only hope for getting to us to begin with is family members who notice something is wrong."

"That's so damn freaky," Yosuke commented. "Can you imagine... just... stopping?"

Kanji grunted as Dr. Shabat attempted to give advice regarding the situation. "Just imagine if you didn't have friends to find you and you just..." He let his words hang in the air.

Yukiko shuddered and held onto Chie's arm. "I don't want to think about it."

"It appears they've moved on," Naoto said quietly, her eyes glued to the screen, her brain obviously trying to work things out.

_I wonder what she's thinking about,_ Kanji mused. _Does she get something we don't?_

"The next segment is rather gruesome, and not recommended for the faint of heart. I... I'm actually not sure how to explain this, if we're being honest. In St. Louis, several bodies have been found hanging from telephone poles and TV antennas. The bodies are normally found on foggy days-"

"WHAT?" Yosuke screamed as he jumped up, several others voicing similar sentiment. "Not again! No! I refuse!"

"But... we can't get into the TV World..." Teddie said quietly, and the others stopped chattering. "How... Who is killing them?"

Chie frowned. "Maybe we could only get into the TV World in St. Lew... what was it?"

"St. Louis," Naoto corrected. "I'm... not sure. Teddie, if I remember correctly, we could enter the TV World from anywhere in Inaba, yes?"

Teddie nodded. "Yeah, so long as you have a TV."

"Are you aware of anyone being able to enter the TV World _outside _of Inaba?" She tried not to look at the footage of bodies being taken down from the telephone poles. Rise, on the other hand, was unable to, her hands covering her mouth.

Teddie shrugged. "The TV World is way, _way_ bigger than Inaba, so I don't see why not." The group began chattering, trying to come up with theories as to why they wouldn't be able to enter the TV World in Los Angeles but they might be able to in St. Louis.

"Lastly, in Los Angeles..." Naoto shushed everyone and got up from the couch where she had been seated next to Kanji. She made her way closer to the TV. "...reports of intense road rage and other anger-related outbursts are increasing rapidly, despite no real changes in the weather, usually a culprit for these types of incidents. This has even resulted in more reports of police brutality and frustration with authority than normal." The report went on to say that no one had an explanation for the sudden increase in these activities, and that they were not limited only to violence, but also outbursts against those in the service industry and targeted vandalism. Some people had even been forcibly sedated as a result of these incidents.

"What the hell?" Kanji asked. "That doesn't even make sense. Who gets pissed at waiters?"

Yukiko sighed. "A lot of people." Even though Yukiko's family owned an inn, they did serve food, so if anyone would know anything about annoyed customers, it would be either her or Yosuke.

"More importantly," Naoto mused aloud, "who would want to rewrite reality so that these things are happening?"

"Adachi," Yu responded, certainty in his voice, but Naoto shook her head.

"Margaret and Igor said that Adachi is probably working with the real culprit. Besides, Dojima had told us that Adachi was doing rather well in prison, so there doesn't seem to be a motive to break out. Who, then? Who might be able to convince him to start this back up again, and where would he get that power? Izanami?"

"No," Marie responded. "I would know. At least... I _think _I would know..." An uneasy silence came over the group. "I'm sorry," she mumbled into her knees, her arms wrapping even more tightly around them.

"I guess we don't really know what's going on," Kanji said finally, rubbing the back of his head. "This sucks. Hey Yu, you got a plan? What are we gonna do?"

Yu thought for a moment. "I guess for now... all we can really do is wait. Try to explore the city, try to figure out what's going on..."

"But if there's someone that needs rescuing, we have no idea how to do that," Yosuke lamented. "That's what you're saying."

Yu looked Yosuke in the eyes, his confidence filling the room. "I believe in us. It may take a while, but we'll figure this out."

* * *

"How does it feel? To have your powers back?"

Adachi laughed. "Ya know, when you first asked me to help you with all of this, I thought it would be stupid. Revenge has never really gotten me anywhere. But this..." Adachi's hands began to glow red. "This feels fucking amazing!" He looked around at the nebulae floating in the sea of darkness. He guessed they were in space, but didn't care to ask exactly where, or how he could breathe. All he cared about was releasing the pent up anger he'd built inside of himself, and his new powers. Magatsu-Izanagi sat beside him, stronger than ever before.

"I'm glad you're pleased, and that we have reached an understanding." The figure turned to another, one with dark hair, cloaked in white. The figure nodded, but said nothing.

"You all promised to never lose hope, to not run from the future. You lied. Every single one of you lied." The figure's hand clenched into a fist. "After everything he did for you, you just... forgot about him." The figure looked upon a large golden door, surrounded by white light. The figure had finally given into the grief, the loneliness which had built up inside. "Well," the figure said, "If there is one thing I have learned, it is that no one is alone. Not even me."


	5. Chapter 5

APRIL 12, 2012

Chie sat outside on the upstairs balcony, looking out into the city. She'd never been in such a place before, with so many large buildings, so many people. The closest she'd been to a place like this was Okina City, and that looked like Inaba compared to Los Angeles. The others had gone out some time ago to do some investigation, but Chie couldn't focus. "Ichijo..." she said, rubbing her knee. The pain had dissipated a day or so after Margaret had given her the ointment, but rubbing the knee had become a sort of nervous habit when she was thinking about things.

Would Ichijo look for her? She'd never told him about what happened last year, about her adventures in the TV World, the kidnappings, the murders. He wouldn't have believed it. Who in their right mind would? So if she disappeared... Chie sighed. She didn't even know when she'd be able to get back home, if ever. Margaret had told Yu that someone was interfering with their ability to contact home. Phone calls from the crew, regardless of what phone was used, would result in, "This phone number has been disconnected." Emails to Dojima and Yosuke's dad would bounce. When they tried to buy plane tickets, they were told there were no flights to Japan at this time, though the next people in line would have no problem buying their own tickets to Tokyo. Margaret insisted that their loved ones were safe, and used a TV to show them Nanako and Dojima, Ichijo, Kanji's mother, and others, to show they were still alive and well, but something-or in this case, more like someone-was preventing them from having anything to do with Inaba.

Until they figured all of this out, no one was leaving Los Angeles.

Chie had asked Margaret if it'd be possible to get a letter, anything to Ichijo. Margaret had been oddly quiet, almost sad. She'd said no, but that she'd keep an eye on him and let Chie know if anything important happened.

"Ichijo..."

What if she never got home? Would he move on? How long would that take? He could see Ai Ebihara now, digging her claws into him as he mourned Chie's disappearance. _That bitch._ In truth, Ai wasn't that bad, especially the last few months, but she still liked Ichijo. A lot. Ichijo had asked Chie out instead, surprising both her and Yosuke, though Yu of course was not surprised in the least. Yu never was.

"Ugh." Chie buried her head into her knees. Yosuke. He'd told Chie he liked her only a week before Ichijo asked her out. She hadn't known how to respond. No one ever liked her; they always liked someone like Yukiko or Rise. Not someone with ugly legs like her... (Though she remembered Yu saying he liked her legs fine.) And now two guys liked her. She'd panicked when Yosuke told her, and that panic amplified when Ichijo had asked her out... But after all she and Yosuke had gone through, nearly dying on multiple occasions, fighting off Adachi and Namatame and everyone else... He had been too close. He knew too much about her, about what scared her, what she didn't like about herself. She didn't feel comfortable with that. So when Ichijo had asked her out, she'd said yes. Yosuke didn't talk to her for two weeks after that, and even now...

"Hey..."

The voice startled Chie back into the present. Chie looked up, seeing Yosuke. Her stomach turned. "Hey..."

"How's your knee? Can I..." He motioned to the chair beside him, and Chie nodded.

Chie rubbed her knee. "It's fine. The ointment Margaret gave me worked great. ... I thought you were with everyone else? Are they back?"

Yosuke smiled. "Uh, some of us are. Me and Naoto, and Kanji. I think Rise should be back soon." An awkward silence fell between the two of them. "So... I... I guess you're worried about Ichijo, right?... Has um, has Margaret said anything?"

_Ugh..._ "No, I guess I just... I dunno." Chie really didn't want to talk about this right now, especially not with Yosuke. She barely wanted to talk about it with Yukiko, and she could talk about anything with her.

Yosuke shifted uncomfortably. "Are you... worried about like... him forgetting or something... or like..."

"Yosuke."

"I-I-I just want to make sure you're okay!" he responded defensively. "I just... hate seeing you sad, or worried..."

Chie turned away, staring at the ground. "Look, Yosuke. I'm okay, alright? I can do this on my own. Margaret will tell me if something happens. I don't know why you keep asking about it."

Yosuke frowned, standing. "Look, it's not my fault you led me on!" he blurted, immediately regretting it. "Just... After everything, I just want to be there for you!" He started as Chie whipped her head around. "I-I... You're the first person I trusted since Sake, okay? And I know you better than Ichijo and it doesn't make sense. None of it makes any sense! Forgive me for fucking trying to make sense of it!"

"I don't owe you anything!" Chie yelled back, standing. Her hands were clenched into fists, and her eyes shot daggers. "I like Ichijo-"

"-Oh _really_?" Yosuke shot back sarcastically. "You barely knew he existed until he asked you out!" This isn't what he had wanted to happen at all, but what had he expected? Both he and Chie had short tempers. Did he expect her to start crying and let him hold her? Did he expect her to admit she didn't like Ichijo? What had he wanted out of this? He didn't know anymore... He could only feel anger at his situation, at their situation, at Chie... "I've been through hell the past three months!"

"I can date whoever I want, Yosuke! It's none of your damn business who I date! Why don't you just go date Rise or something, the way you're always fawning over her?" Chie felt her blood boiling. She knew it wasn't fair to bring Rise into this, especially with how close the two had grown in the past few months, but she had stopped caring about logic a few moments ago. Now, she was just pissed.

Yosuke scoffed. "Rise? She's awesome and an idol! That doesn't mean I like her! I just... It's cool being friends with an idol, especially one as nice as her!" _What are we even arguing about anymore?_ "Are you jealous or something?"

It was Chie's turn to scoff. "As if," she responded quietly. "I _have _a boyfriend."

That was the last straw. _I don't need to take this shit, not from her._ "Yeah, a guy who is probably gonna leave you for Ai in like a week!"

"D-Don't you say that!" Chie responded, tears welling up in her eyes against her will. _Please, don't let him see me cry._ "Don't you say that, you jerk!" Her arm reached out against her will, her hand making forceful contact with Yosuke's face. Immediately, she recoiled, as Yosuke just sat there in silence, a shocked look on his face. "I... I hate you," she managed to say, though she couldn't tell if she was saying it to Yosuke or to herself. She turned and ran inside, slamming her bedroom door behind her.

"...Chie..."

"What the hell is all this noise?" Kanji said, coming up the stairs, ready to fight if need be. He saw the pained expression on Yosuke's face, as well as the red mark, and could hear Chie sobbing behind her bedroom door. Even he could put two and two together. "Hey, come on man... Let's take a walk." Kanji walked out to the balcony and went to put his hand on Yosuke's shoulder to lead him downstairs.

"Get away from me," Yosuke said, turned his back to his friend.

Kanji took a moment to take that in. "Tsk. Fine. Have it your way." Kanji turned and went back downstairs, waving his hand nonchalantly.

"I'm... still the same." Yosuke looked at his hand, clenching in into a fist. "I'm still the same loser I was, back then..." He remembered Sake's smile and laughter at all his jokes, thinking that meant she liked him. He'd been wrong then, just like he was wrong three months ago, thinking Chie could love him. "I'm... so stupid..." Yosuke hit his hand on the balcony fence and pain shot up through his arm. Why had he said those things to Chie? She didn't deserve it, any of it.

"I don't deserve love," Yosuke said to himself after a long silence. He hadn't felt this alone since he first moved to Inaba.

He hadn't ever felt this angry.


	6. Chapter 6

"Ngh..." Yosuke gripped his sides, trying not to cough. He felt invigorated, like he could do anything, but he also felt ill, his stomach churning. He could hear voices running through his head. Quickly, he flung his hands over his ears. "No..." His mind was racing. _What is going on?_

_"...I always wanted to tell Hana-chan... that he was a real pain in the ass. I was nice to him because he was the store manager's son, that's all... But he takes it completely the wrong way and gets all enthusiastic. What a dip..."_

"Saki-senpai... That wasn't... completely how you felt..." Yosuke began punching the ground. "But you still lied! Why?" His knuckles hurt, but he couldn't stop slamming his knuckles into the black and white tiles.

_"...You just came here because you thought it sounded like a good time! What else is there to do out in this shithole?..."_

"No... I faced that part of myself..." Yosuke was sweating, heaving. "What's... what's going on?" He wanted to tear these stupid apartments apart, rip the clothes out of the closet and set them on fire, lighting the whole block ablaze. He wished he still had his Persona, Susano-o. He wanted to use him to Magarudyne the entire shitty city of Los Angeles. _Why the fuck are we even here?_ Red flashed across his vision.

_"You... You like me? I... don't know what to say, Yosuke..."  
"Say yes, Chie..."_

More voices rang out all at once as Yosuke dry heaved, his body unable to stand the stress. He imagined punching Ichijo, breaking his nose. He laughed as he imagined Ichijo holding onto his nose. He felt like he was going crazy, but he was enjoying it._ I... I probably look like Adachi right now, _he thought as he cackled. _I... deserve this... _Logically, Yosuke knew something had gone very wrong. He felt like his mind was being taken over by someone or something, but part of him felt like this was natural, that he had every right to be pissed people kept lying to him. His friends from home, when they told him they'd be friends forever. Saki. Chie. He wanted to stop thinking about it all, but the voices kept coming.

_"Did you hear? Chie's dating Ichijo. What a weird couple!"  
"Aw, Narukami is leaving. I guess he's probably glad to get out of a stupid place like Inaba though." "Yeah, this place blows. There's nothing here."  
"Aw, those two are cute together."_  
_"He doesn't have too many friends, so I hope you two get along good. Hana-chan's a good guy, but he can get nosy sometimes. You gotta tell him right to his face when he starts to annoy you."_  
_"We'll be friends forever, dude! We'll come visit Inaba like all the time!" "Yeah man, it's only an hour or something away by train!"_  
_"Ew, why would Ichijo date someone like her?" "I dunno, she's actually kind of my type..." "Really?"  
"Sorry man, but Inaba is boring... Maybe you can come here sometime."  
"Can't you try to stay, Yu?" "I should go back." "But Bro, how are we gonna hang?" "Don't worry Yosuke, we'll always be friends."_  
_"Ichijo should date someone more like Ai." "What are you saying? They're perfect for one another!"  
"Aw, I wanted to ask Chie out..." "You want to date a different girl each week." "So? It doesn't mean I didn't want to ask her out!"  
"Sorry man, we're just... busy. We can't come this weekend, or next weekend..." "Then, when can you visit...?"  
"It must be nice to have someone else from the big city to talk to, huh? I don't see Hana-chan hanging out with the other guys much."  
"I kind of thought she was a lesbian..."  
"Sorry, Yosuke, but if I'm honest, I only talked to you because you were around Narukami all the time, and I wanted to talk to him... So please... Leave me alone."_

Tears began to stream down Yosuke's face, the bitterness escaping from his throat as he began to speak. "I'm... such a loser. I deserve to die alone." He thought of Saki, who had only pretended to like him, and of Chie, who couldn't even turn him down properly. So much false hope. So many empty promises. How many of his friends were like that? How many people only pretended to care about him? How many would leave him? If he came home, if he could even call Inaba home, would anyone give a shit he was back?

"Yosuke?" someone called. He couldn't quite make out who it was, thanks to the voices, continuously growing louder. His vision blurred, but he felt like he could see Yu coming toward him, arm stretched out. Yosuke slapped it out of the way, screaming. The figure recoiled, clearly surprised. There were others behind Yu, but they weren't approaching him.

"Get away from me!" Yosuke began coughing and covered his mouth. When he pulled his hand away, he could have sworn he saw blood, but it flickered and disappeared. Everything turned fuzzy, like static. He turned to his right, still pushing his friends away. In front of him lay a coffin. _It... would be so nice to die..._ He ran, stumbling, to the coffin, and lay in it, closing the lid on himself as his friends screamed for him to stop.

Yosuke's body slammed onto the ground and he groaned in pain. Lifting himself up, however, he found that his frustration and anger were helping him find his strength. _If only I'd just realized all of this before..._

"You have come," he heard a voice say.

Yosuke spun around. "What the-" In front of him stood an enormous red, mostly nude woman with hollow eyes and nails longer than Yosuke was tall. What little did ornament the woman was either black and red or gilded. The large belt she wore featured a gold skull with gigantic ears, and three large black and red beads hung from each of those ears. A gold and red cloth hung from that belt, covering her legs. Her long black hair was clearly unkempt, appearing more as a mane. She wore a fanged mask. As fearsome as she was, Yosuke had to admit she was also beautiful in the way sullenness is often beautiful.

"I am Rangda, the demon queen," the woman said, her voice carrying an immense weight to it. "Your friends have abandoned you, Yosuke. Everyone you love will lie to you at some point, if they have not already. You meant nothing to Saki, but Chie..."

"Shut up!" Yosuke yelled, his blood boiling. "You know nothing about them!"

"I know what it is like to be told you are loved and then thrown out like tomorrow's trash," Rangda responded, feeding off his anger. "Your friends from the city. Where were they after you moved? Saki. If she hadn't died you would have never known how she felt about you. Yu, leaving, not fighting to stay. And when he did return, old grudges interfere with your ability to be normal children, almost adults. Chie..." Rangda looked almost sad. "You were unable to get the truth from Chie, and now she's rejected you outright. What do you have left, Yosuke?"

Yosuke's fists clenched. "I have... my anger."

"Yes. Your anger is all we need." Rangda looked off to the distance, where a blue door was appearing. She growled. Turning back to Yosuke, she reached down and picked him up, his frame tiny in her hand. "Together, our rage will protect us," she said, watching the group quickly advance to their location, avoiding the few Shadows that littered the island's landscape.

"Yu...?" Yosuke felt the power drain from his body. He turned to Rangda. "What is... going..." Rangda smiled as Yosuke passed out.

"Revenge," she said, knowing he couldn't hear her.

The Investigation Team was accompanied by Margaret, whom Yu had called upon as soon as Yosuke had climbed into the coffin. Margaret had simply nodded, and asked Igor, "May I?" Igor had been silent for a few moments before finally nodding, though his expression had expressed regret at his decision. "If I don't, surely..." All Igor had responded with was, "I know."

"Yu," Margaret said as the group stopped, staring up at the enormous Rangda. "Do you accept me as I am?" she asked.

"What?" Yu asked, but didn't wait for an answer. "Of course. Yes."

Margaret smiled. "Then I am able to help you."

"Leave here," Rangda boomed. "There is nothing for you here."

"Give me back my friend," Yu demanded.

Rangda laughed bitterly. "This? The 'friend' none of you are able to be honest with?" Rangda squeezed Yosuke so hard it looked like his bones would shattered. "Yosuke and I know what it is to be lied to, to be 'loved' and then tossed aside for being who we are... or who people think we are. What would you want with him that you could not get from another?"

"He's my friend! I would never abandon him!" Yu's glare could have split stone, but unfortunately, it was having no effect on Rangda.

"Hmph." Rangda held Yosuke out and TVs fell down from the sky, acting as projectors. "I believe your so-called 'friend' feels otherwise."

The group could see Yosuke on the screen, writhing in pain. "I'm... such a loser. I deserve to die alone," TV Yosuke screamed. "I'm... still the same. I'm still the same loser I was, back then..." Tears streamed down his face "I'm... so stupid..."

"What the hell?" Kanji asked, irritated. "That's some shit!"

"You want him back?" Rangda laughed. "I will gladly give him back to you." Rangda flung his body into the air, and Chie screamed as Yosuke's body hurled back toward the ground.


End file.
